against bashar al-assad shows no signs of slowing down. the bloody uprising blamed for tens of thousands of deaths. ralph peters is a fox news strategic analyst and joins us with more incite on this. how significant is this defection. >> it is significance. it's not by itself going to topple the regime. it's a real propaganda victory for the rebels. it tells us all that the last rats are deserting the sinking ship. he'll have very important information. in the syrian military the role of the military police is different than ours. the military police in syria, among other things they are the enforcers, behind the other shoulders making sure the other enforcers don't dessert, kill the people they are told to kill. this guy, this general is a real bad hombre, a real insider. bottom line, won't end things by itself but help the shirt does matter. heather: this all began roughly about 21 months ago with people protesting, asking for reforms. it turned into a civil war, estimates put about 40,000 people dead. are we any closer to the civil war being resolved? >> well, we are closer to bashar